Industry Blog

Spring and summer are a big time for moving, as the school year ends and the weather warms up, and this year apartments are in higher demand. A report from data analytics firm RealPage says move-ins in the past few months reached a five-year high. When demand grows, so do prices, and the report found that rents are up 3% on average compared to a year ago. That’s despite an overall decline in renters over the past few years.  

Source: Marketplace

In surveys taken ten years ago, Millennials used to say that they would never want to live in the suburbs, and they initially showed little interest in getting married and starting families. Following the housing crash, millions of them moved in with their parents, further slowing household formations. 

Generation Y used to be a small part of the housing market, but now the Millennials account for more than one-third of all home purchases. Data from the National Association of Realtors shows that “older Millennials,” those born between 1980 and 1989, by themselves account for 26% of all home purchases. The older Millennials, now in their thirties, have started having children and are showing an increasing desire to own a home. And sometimes, those homes are in (shudder) the suburbs!

The transition of this generation, 80 million strong, out of their parents’ basements and into family life and home ownership is a major factor driving overall demand for new homes nationwide.

Growth in the number of households had been as low as 534,000 back in 2009, during the recession, but now it is again well over 1 million. The various sources of data on household formations show that we are now up to somewhere between 1.2 million and 1.5 million per year.

Source: Forbes

Spring is the busiest season for home sales. If you’re interested in selling, the best time to list your home is probably in early April.

According to a new report from Realtor.com on property sales in the 50 largest American metropolitan areas, homes listed across the country during the first week of April received 14 percent more views online than homes listed during any other week of the year. Compared with the weekly average across the year, they also had 5 percent fewer total listings to compete with and sold at an average of six days sooner, for almost 6 percent (or $17,000) more.

To determine this, the company weighed several factors for listings on its site between January 2016 and December 2018: the number of days each property spent on the market; the rate at which properties listed at various times of year sold above or below asking price; the number of online views listings received; the total number of listings at any given time; and the average listing price in each area at various times of year.

Source: The New York Times

​A Manhattan penthouse is now the most expensive home ever sold in the United States. Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin closed on an apartment under construction at 220 Central Park South this week for around $238 million. A spokeswoman for Griffin confirmed the sale, which was originally reported by the Wall Street Journal. The deed is not yet available in city property records.

​​The figure destroys the previous New York City record of $100.47 million set in 2014; Computer billionaire Michael Dell was recently exposed as the owner of that penthouse in nearby One57. The prior national record was also set that same year when Barry Rosenstein, another hedge fund billionaire, purchased an East Hampton spread for $147 million. Since then, nine-figure sales have been largely concentrated in and around Los Angeles.

However, Griffin, with a net worth of $9.9 billion, is no stranger to massive real estate purchases. Just this week it came out that he spent $122 million on a London home close to Buckingham palace. That was the highest price paid in the British capital since 2011. The New York apartment is around 24,000 square feet and is being delivered empty, according to the Journal.

Griffin heads Citadel, a Chicago-based hedge fund that he founded in 1990 not long after graduating from Harvard. His New York purchase comes as the $30 billion fund is expanding its presence in the city. Its new offices are just across Central Park from Griffin's new home.

ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database, today released its Q3 2018 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that in the third quarter of 2018, nearly 14.5 million U.S. properties were equity rich — where the combined estimated amount of loans secured by the property was 50 percent or less of the property’s estimated market value — up by more than 433,000 from a year ago to a new high as far back as data is available, Q4 2013.
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The 14.5 million equity rich properties in Q3 2018 represented 25.7 percent of all properties with a mortgage, up from 24.9 percent in the previous quarter but down from 26.4 percent in Q3 2017.

Source: ATTOM Data Solutions

​When selling a home, you want the best possible offer from homebuyers. To capture attention and boost bids, consider these eight tips.

1. Invest in the bath and kitchen to impress
Buyers focus on kitchens and bathrooms, making these rooms worth the investment. A midrange bathroom remodel recoups 70 percent of the cost at resale, according to the 2018 Remodeling Magazine Cost vs. Value Report, and a midrange kitchen remodel that includes replacing cabinet fronts and upgrades appliances recoups 81 percent of the cost.​

2. Enhance the heart of the home for family and functionality
Families spend countless hours cooking, baking and making memories in the kitchen. Consider thoughtful enhancements that facilitate food prep, and buyers will take notice. For example, American Standard kitchen faucets with MeasureFill technology allow you to adjust a knob and get a precise amount of water up to five cups on demand.

3. Focus on the flaws and make fixes
If an entire remodel isn't practical, fix the trouble spots. Simple swaps like replacing a scratched sink, a dated microwave or an old tired floor can make a big difference at sale time.

4. Refresh spaces with paint in neutral hues
Paint is one of the most affordable home updates and has a dramatic impact. Neutral colors are broadly appealing, so choose safe hues that let future homebuyers easily envision living in the space.

5. Keep streamlined designs in mind
Modern home enhancements often have a streamlined look with sleek designs that don't overpower other spatial elements. For example, the GROHE GrohTherm SmartControl shower system is intelligently designed with push and turn intuitive smart controls and a thin profile that will fit into any room's aesthetic.
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